Installing car amplifier and subwoofer inside your home

[hoodlegend]

hi

i have a car amplifier and a subwoofer. i want to install it in my house. i will use an ac - 13.8 volt @ 5 amp dc power convertor to provide power for my amplifier. will this be enough?

another thing i would like to know is how to connect the remote wire. can anyone tell my how much power goes into the remote cable.

can anyone please help me

[balls_to_the_wall]

Unless is a Small amp, 5 amps isn't gonna cut it.

[sr20de4evr]

That 5 amp supply would get you about 30 watts from a class d, and I doubt it would even be able to turn on a class ab

Provided it could power the unit, you could do any number of things with the remote wire. It just gets a 12-14v signal that tells it to turn on (maybe 50-100mA). If your power supply has an on-off switch then you could just wire the + out to both the amp's + input and the remote input. If not then you could put in your own switch to turn the amp on and off.

[hoodlegend]

Originally Posted by sr20de4evr

That 5 amp supply would get you about 30 watts from a class d, and I doubt it would even be able to turn on a class ab

Provided it could power the unit, you could do any number of things with the remote wire. It just gets a 12-14v signal that tells it to turn on (maybe 50-100mA). If your power supply has an on-off switch then you could just wire the + out to both the amp's + input and the remote input. If not then you could put in your own switch to turn the amp on and off.

thank you for your help. can you please tell me how many amps i would need to run a lightning audio 900 watt amplifier.

i am a bit worried about using a high power + input with the remote input. can you please tell me if this will be safe.

[sr20de4evr]

It's hard to say, most lightning audio stuff is so grossly overrated that I have no idea how much power that amp actually puts out. I would guess it's around 300 watts, if it was a class d that would require a ~30 amp power supply, if it was a class ab that would require a ~50 amp power supply.

As for the 2nd quesytion, "high power" doesn't really mean much, since power is equal to the voltage multiplied by the current, "high power" could mean low voltage and high current, high voltage and low current, or high voltage and high current. In this case it means low voltage and high current, or more specifically, the power supply will put out 13.8v and provide as much current as is necessary to keep up that voltage (up to 5 amps, since it's a 5 amp supply). Your remote input has a very high resistance, when given a 13.8 voltage it only draws 50-100mA at the most, whether the power supply is capable of supplying more or not doesn't matter, the remote input doesn't draw any more so it doesn't get any more.

It's like your car battery, the battery is capable of supplying >1000 amps if required, but you can attach a device to it that only draws 10mA and there won't be a problem. If the device doesn't ask for the current then it won't receive the current.

[CBFryman]

for reference, i had a sony 444 powered by a 30a power supply and 150ish watts was all i could get from it before clipping/distortion becamse noticable or the over draw shut the power supply off.
the sony 444 is an A/B amplifier.

[hoodlegend]

Originally Posted by sr20de4evr

It's hard to say, most lightning audio stuff is so grossly overrated that I have no idea how much power that amp actually puts out. I would guess it's around 300 watts, if it was a class d that would require a ~30 amp power supply, if it was a class ab that would require a ~50 amp power supply.

As for the 2nd quesytion, "high power" doesn't really mean much, since power is equal to the voltage multiplied by the current, "high power" could mean low voltage and high current, high voltage and low current, or high voltage and high current. In this case it means low voltage and high current, or more specifically, the power supply will put out 13.8v and provide as much current as is necessary to keep up that voltage (up to 5 amps, since it's a 5 amp supply). Your remote input has a very high resistance, when given a 13.8 voltage it only draws 50-100mA at the most, whether the power supply is capable of supplying more or not doesn't matter, the remote input doesn't draw any more so it doesn't get any more.

It's like your car battery, the battery is capable of supplying >1000 amps if required, but you can attach a device to it that only draws 10mA and there won't be a problem. If the device doesn't ask for the current then it won't receive the current.

hi, thank you, that really cleared it up for me. i would just like to ask you one more thing. after you very clearly explained it to me, i understand that any device (the remote input) won't take more current then it needs. can you please tell me if it will be safe to send 13.8 volts through the remote input instead of 12 volts

[sr20de4evr]

it should be fine up to at least 15-16 volts, probably higher

in a car it just gets the battery voltage, which is ~14.4V while the car is running

[GSteg]

By the time you find a power invertor big enough for your amplifier, you'll be spending a lot more than $400.


Why not just get a plate amplifier? Partsexpress has them for about $100 or with enough power for your use. It doesn't take much power to get loud in home since you dont have road noise to deal with.

Not to mention, a plate amplifier is made specifically for home audio

[hoodlegend]

Originally Posted by GSteg

By the time you find a power invertor big enough for your amplifier, you'll be spending a lot more than $400.


Why not just get a plate amplifier? Partsexpress has them for about $100 or with enough power for your use. It doesn't take much power to get loud in home since you dont have road noise to deal with.

Not to mention, a plate amplifier is made specifically for home audio

thank you so much, this will make things a lot easier. just one more thing, will a 350watt rms plate amplifier be enough for a 1000watt subwoofer and does the plate amplifier have a low pass filter?

[GSteg]

What sub is it? The rating on the sub aren't always true, and it doesn't always mean you have to have that much power to sound good or get loud.


Most plate amps have lowpass filters on them

[hoodlegend]

Originally Posted by GSteg

What sub is it? The rating on the sub aren't always true, and it doesn't always mean you have to have that much power to sound good or get loud.


Most plate amps have lowpass filters on them

i will most probably be using an xplod XSL1220 or xplod XSL122P5 or lanzar vibe 1000watt 15 inch subwoofer. can you please tell me what size amplifier will be right for me. what do you recommend about lanzar subwoofers, are they any good.